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michael sunderland and virginia barbisan
Hello everyone, welcome to this space. The great adventure of Rayburn and V
This is a place that we thought initially for all our relatives and friends, for them to share with us this great experience and follow us during this amazing journey. But we would also like it to be a place for other travelers, for everyone curious about people, cultures, places, traditions, knowledge. For everyone passionate about life.
We're going to the other side of the world, but there's so much in between here and there that we couldn't think about missing it all. That's where our trip begins. We’re leaving London, where we spent the last two years, heading to New Zealand. We will see France, Italy, Egypt, Slovakia, Poland, Belarus, Russia, Mongolia, China, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore.
This is the story of our wanderings.
Virginia + Michael
“train window is like a TV without remote”
John Rayburn
Travel Blog Posts
BABY SEALS IN THE OHAU STREAM
Published: November 30th 2010Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Kaikoura
August 4th 2010
We've been driving up from Christchurch to Wellington after some beautiful days in the Banks Peninsula. It wasn't the first time, but we always forgot to look for the famous seal colony where loads of baby seals swim up a stream and play under a water fall. Well, here it is! Just north of Ohau Point the road widens a bit into a small car park and you can walk along the stream up to the waterfall. It's incredible, and it's no surprise that the place is becoming quite popular. You don't get to see something like that every day. It's definitely worth a stop, assuming is the right season!... read more
TONGARIRO ALPINE CROSSING
Published: July 4th 2010Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » Tongariro National Park
June 23rd 2010
02.04.10 What a better chance to get a small break from our routine, than Easter holidays! The only trouble with Easter is that the holiday is not quite long enough... So to make the most out of time and budget, Tongariro seemed like the perfect choice. And it was. I must admit I have a soft spot for this part of New Zealand, the landscape, the colours, the earth showing its force and beauty, I absolutely love it. We've been staying in Ohakune, world famous (?) for its giant carrot, and maybe also for being a really good spot if you'd like to go skiing to Ruapehu. This time of the year the town looked fairly quiet, which might have been an advantage. We got a nice little room in one of the many motels, with ... read more
WALKING THE ABEL TASMAN
Published: February 6th 2010Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Abel Tasman National Park
January 5th 2010
On the Tuesday morning we get up early. Packs are all ready. We have time to have breakfast with Phil and Erika, that as usual have been incredibly good to us and spoiled us for the last couple of days. As if it wasn’t enough we are also borrowing their car, so we load the backpacks and get on the move before they’ll head to work. Shame on me straight away, as we don’t even leave the car park that I realise I left all my documents there. I deserved the open laugh from Phil still standing on the door. First stop is Picton, to meet our travel mates that got there early morning, very early morning, with the ferry. We rescued them from a local cafè. Chris and Kath are coming with us, and Klaus, ... read more
July 31st 2009
31.07.09 In the last few days we haven’t been thinking about anything else. Despite what most of you may think, we were really in need of an holiday, an escape, a break, call it as you like. Our weekend away. So because we are on holiday, this morning we don’t want to rush. It takes little time to pack all we need, a brief stop to buy some food, and a last one to fill in the tank and check the car. We’re driving on the SH1 but I’m still not sure where we’re going. The weather looks uncertain but we have absolutely no interest in it, we’re going away! If you happen to be looking for some excitement, the road between Wellington and Wanganui will certainly put you to sleep. Country, country, country, flatness, flatness, ... read more
WAITANGI DAY AT MT COOK
Published: August 16th 2009Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Mount Cook National Park
February 8th 2009
06.02.09 The night spent attending Classical Sparks at Hagley Park got us a bit tired and waking up this morning has been a bit of a struggle. In two hours we are finally ready to go. After two tries to pack everything in the car we realized we were probably overloaded for a weekend journey, only to find out later as usual, that we were still missing something! Soon we’re heading south on the HS1 under a hot sun. A first brief stop we had to make it at a Pack’n’Save to get some food we were meant to buy last night…which we obviously didn’t do. Linda got off and me and Mike decided to roast in the car. By the time we got well cooked, we could put us back on the way. We crossed ... read more
January 2nd 2009
30.12.08 It’s sunny and warm. Absolutely lovely. Rare stains of white clouds give some joy to an otherwise blue dome. We’re driving north on a sole strip of tarmac that unwinds between yellow hills and dark green patches of conifers. Together with the electric line, the road is the only sign of man’s presence. I’m thinking about the summers of my youth spent in the Alps with my family, the white river beds almost dry. We stop for lunch in Kaikoura, a small town on the sea famous for whale watching. We buy some fish & chips, and sit on the almost deserted beach, under the bright sun. we eat while a circle of seagulls all around us, is waiting impatiently for a piece of fish. The little stones on the ground are burning under our ... read more
December 18th 2008
18.12.08 Km travelled 21453 The 15th at night we’ve been sitting outside the guesthouse waiting for a car to pick us up and take us to Georgetown. In the meanwhile the man in the car was waiting for us along the road. After a while he finally waved and we realized we’ve been sitting there waiting for each other. He was quite a talkative man, and his son, on the other end very quiet, was sitting beside him. In Georgetown we got on a minivan that took us to the bus station. The journey to Singapore lasted more than 13 hours. The so called VIP bus had 27 wide reclinable seats, all very uncomfortable. The night was very long and sleeping seemed just impossible. In Singapore we’ve been dropped off at Beach Road. We got a ... read more
December 14th 2008
14.12.08 Km travelled 20854 Our stay in Penang is close to its end. I'll be very honest, it's a place I definitely won't recommend. The journey from Koh Samui has not been the most pleasant. It's been actually fine up to Hat Yai, then we got on a mini bus with an horrible driver, on an endless struggle to reach Penang. It was already past nine at night when, after long queues and continuous changes on the way to drop off people here and there, he left us in an unknown street of Georgetown and went away without even a word. Fortunately a Buddhist taxi driver came across and accepted to take us to Batu Firringhi. We're staying at Baba's Guesthouse, the cheapest place we found, but still expensive for what it is. We choose Penang ... read more
KO SAMUI - BEACH BEACH BEACH
Published: December 15th 2008Asia » Thailand » South-West Thailand » Ko Samui
December 8th 2008
01.12.08 Km travelled 19811 Luciano and Pamela are already sitting at the table when we arrive. I'm still very sick but I eat my breakfast because we don't know when we'll be able to get some food today. We learn that our travelling mates are Argentinian but live in Barcelona. As many Argentinians they have Italian passports as their families come originally from Italy. When we're ready to leave it's time to thank Erich for everything, and particularly for his advice. We all have bulky backpacks and it's hard to fit all into the car. I sit in the front sit together with my backpack and we finally leave. The journey to Poipet takes exactly three hours, with one stop for toilet and one for gasoline. It's a dirt road all the way and we understood ... read more
November 30th 2008
30.11.08 Today we have a tuk tuk all for ourselves, that will take us around to see the other temples. But there's no discount on the time, 4.30am as usual! We are soon ready to leave and the driver is ready, so we jump on and go into the dark. We definitely underestimated the cold of the wind at such an early time, so we freeze ourselves on the way to Sras Srang. It's only few minutes after 5.00 when we get there and it's still all dark, but we'll wait here for the sunrise. We walk, with a torch to find the way, towards the wide screen of water, completely unaware of the huge number of stands surrounding the place. Immediately kids are all around us trying to sell whatever they can. With all this ... read more
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